Grammy-nominated singer Jane Monheit has been a leading light in both the jazz and cabaret worlds since emerging as a finalist in the Thelonious Monk Institute’s 1998 vocal competition. In addition to her own recordings, she has worked alongside the likes of Terence Blanchard, Tom Harrell, and Ivan Lins. She says that the distinctive, continually surprising sound of her ninth studio album, The Heart Of The Matter, is the result of an especially satisfying collaboration with Grammy-winning producer Gil Goldstein, who has previously worked with such giants as Wayne Shorter, Gil Evans, and Pat Metheny.

“Everything I’m singing now is a reflection of my truest self,” says Monheit. “After all this time in the industry, after touring for 13 years, it’s time to just be me, with complete and utter freedom.” The Heart of the Matter showcases her interpretive range over standards as well as Rock and Brazilian classics, and features her first original song. “I knew that I wanted the material to be chosen based on the lyrical content”, says Monheit of the eclectic track list, attributing her renewed focus on musical storytelling to new motherhood and a well-earned comfort in her technique. From the song choices to the performances, The Heart Of The Matter is a work deeply informed by Jane Monheit’s life- as a woman, wife, and mother in the second decade of a remarkable career- and it reaches emotional levels she drew from an “extreme comfort zone” in the recording studio. “It was a small group, we’re all friends, and everyone really wanted to be there,” she says. “I’m very close with my band, so to hear Gil’s beautiful work with my family beneath it inspired me to be completely unselfconscious... I think I’ve finally reached my level of onstage, live interpretation in the studio, which has always been a challenge for me.” “When you’re playing with people you love,” says Monheit, “it always makes for better music.”